How I Budget For A Big Expense - What I Spent As A Destination Wedding Guest
We were just guests at a destination wedding for the very first time, and we want to break down how much it cost for us to attend!
Destination weddings are almost always going to be more expensive to attend than a local wedding, but how much they cost will differ based on a number of factors, including location. This one was in Lake Como, Italy - which is a pretty high cost destination in general. We tried to spend as little as possible (key words: 'as possible', because it was still very expensive!). In this video we'll break down how much we spent on flights, hotels, other transportation, outfits, and food.
Remember, if you're going to attend a destination wedding, create a budget so you can save up and keep your costs controlled - it's easy for it to add up! If you have any other tips or stories from when you were a guest at a destination wedding, let us know if the comments below!
0:00 Guests at a destination wedding
1:24 Lake Como, Italy is... expensive (!)
3:29 Expense 1: Flights
5:25 Expense 2: Accommodations
8:01 Expense 3: Transportation
8:49 Expense 4: Food
10:06 Expense 5: Wedding Outfits
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How much have you spent to be a wedding guest in the past (destination or local)? Let us know! 👀
Probably the most detailed breakdown of wedding costs I’ve seen. It would have been nice to see the total at the end since you threw out a lot of numbers. I live in Europe and everyone knows that Lake Como is a place where all the rich people have their vacation houses so I can imagine the cost to be ridiculous. But trust that it’s really not that expensive everywhere else.
@stephandden
9 ай бұрын
So glad you thought so 😊 It's not a destination that we likely would've travelled to otherwise because of how expensive it is - so it was nice to have a reason to visit! We'll definitely come back and explore in a lower cost way in the future.
I've never been so happy to have friends that are also poor and have non existent dating lives.
@asadb1990
9 ай бұрын
Yeah and i just couldn't bare to spend so much for any friends or even my own siblings. For friends or acquaintances, a well wish for wedding is understood if im not attending or if they dont attend my wedding. But if its close family, $100 etransfer is more than enough.
Very informative, thanks for sharing! Cost me about $1200 being a bridesmaid in a wedding, so expensive!
@stephandden
9 ай бұрын
So glad it was informative! + thanks for sharing that - it definitely can be expensive 👀
Awesome video!!!! seriously you all do an amazing job!!!
@stephandden
9 ай бұрын
Thank you so much! 🙏🏿🙌🏻
My best friend is getting married this year and so far we're looking at $6k for flights, $2k for accommodations (11 nights airbnb, 8 nights resort), $500 for dress/hair/makeup, $1.4k for a suit. It's slightly easier to justify when you squeeze in a mini vacation, and get to visit family but 😬💸
@stephandden
9 ай бұрын
Very expensive when you add it altogether! We hope that you have a great vacation / family visit alongside the wedding 😊
great editing!
@stephandden
7 ай бұрын
Thank you! 😊
Love your videos! They are a great resource for my clients. We spent $12k for a family of four in 2 weeks over 4 European countries visiting friends and staying with them. Not a destination wedding but still a great vacation!
@stephandden
9 ай бұрын
Thank you so much! + that sounds like a great vacation, so glad that you had a great time! 😊
My suggestion is always the same when going to a foreign destination for any event: contact local friends if possible. They will surely have way better suggestions than the ones you can find on the internet.
Awe, I preferred the thumbnail with the two of you.
@stephandden
9 ай бұрын
We switched it up because it wasn't performing as well as we'd liked! We thought it was fun, too 😊
@adventurousbec
9 ай бұрын
Understood.@@stephandden Looking forward to seeing more content :)
Loved the video thank you for make it realistic
@stephandden
9 ай бұрын
Thank you for watching! 😊
Another great and informative vid from you guys 🤩
@stephandden
9 ай бұрын
Thank you so much! 😊
Great video. Thank you! If you don't mind, can you please share the name of the hotel you stayed at in lake como?
@stephandden
9 ай бұрын
It was called ‘Hotel Bellagio’! 😊
I think the hosts should pay for destination weddings. Are you going to have a separate video showing your trip to Lake Como?
@stephandden
9 ай бұрын
We'll have a KZread Short coming out soon with some more videos from the trip included! 😊
@asadb1990
9 ай бұрын
Agreed host should pay for tickets or the hotel, food, transport (shuttle to hotel, venue and around town for shopping) and clothes.
@kelseyh7918
9 ай бұрын
Agreed. I feel like it is a huge ask for most people to attend a destination wedding. I would probably just decline if I was invited to one unfortunately, unless the people getting married offered to pay for the travel expenses, which I doubt most do.
I think whatever class of flights you buy you are never sure of being there on time, there is very often delay cancellations etc. Especially if there is layovers, it often snowbowls
@stephandden
9 ай бұрын
That makes sense, but being fully rebooked when there was no actual cancellation / delay with our original flight was a new experience!
both of you have nice casual fashion taste, question, do any of you buy anything designer , just curious, great content.
@stephandden
9 ай бұрын
Thank you! No, we don’t own / plan to buy anything designer at the moment 😊
@jwho4273
9 ай бұрын
@@stephanddendo you have any videos showing your wardrobe?
How do afford attending multiple events, vacations, etc.
I’m curious about this because I have a destination wedding coming up… do you still bring a gift that you would usually give at a wedding that’s local at a destination wedding? Given that you are spending so much to travel there, I’m not too sure how it works when it comes to the actual gift for the couple. Would love to hear your thoughts. Thanks! :)
@eww27
9 ай бұрын
i attended to like a destination wedding and the newly weds didn't expect a gift since we are already purchasing our flight tickets and resort stay (it was at an all inclusive resort). but i think it really depends on the couple though. best to ask to clarify!
@stephandden
9 ай бұрын
Thanks for sharing this!
@stephandden
9 ай бұрын
Good question! In this case, the couple explicitly said on their wedding website that no gifts were necessary, as it was a destination wedding. It definitely depends on the couple / situation, but in our personal opinion it shouldn't be necessary to bring a gift in this case. 😊
@cristinabevilacqua3957
9 ай бұрын
@@stephandden got it! Thank you :)
Just curious, given that destination weddings will always be more expensive, is there any financial aid from the wedding couple or is it just communicated that they would understand if you can’t come due to finances?
@stephandden
9 ай бұрын
I think it depends on the couple / situation! In general, it seems like anyone having a destination is aware that a number of guests will likely decline due to either finances or schedule issues (as it’s a several day commitment, vs one day!) From what we’ve seen looking into this online, couples are more likely to help financially with anyone specifically close to them that they’d like to attend if they need it (like someone in the bridal party, family, etc) 😊
@Genzmillenial
9 ай бұрын
@@stephandden Thanks for responding! You guys say that you didn’t realise the full cost until you were there. In your case, did your friends not give a heads up like “prepare to make at least a $2k commitment per person” or was it more that you thought you could get the cost down?
@stephandden
9 ай бұрын
@@Genzmillenial In this case, it's specifically because we figured we could get costs down more, but Lake Como happens to be a pretty high cost location because it's harder to navigate (ie. you need to take a plane, train and ferry to get there, you also need to ferry to each location around the lake) - and there's fewer food options (ie. no grocery stores in the town we were staying at, for example). Luckily we did love the location (it was so beautiful!) but there were those additional expenses that might not have been there if it were in a different spot. We hope that makes sense 😊